Disney has announced the cutting of many films and TV shows from Disney+, leaving many to wonder what will happen to the projects purged from the streaming service. While Disney+ has seen a great deal of success for the studio in terms of storytelling ability, the news about many projects being cut from the service is a concern, to say the least. While the titles being cut are limited to smaller, more original IPs rather than content dedicated to franchises like Star Wars or the MCU, it is a shame to see any works having the possibility of being seen taken away.
Arguably the biggest show that is being removed from the service is Willow, the Warwick Davis-led sequel to the 1988 film of the same name. Despite the positive critical reception of the show, it was placed on hiatus as per a Twitter post by creator Jon Kasdan amid reports the series has been canceled. Alongside Willow are over 40 other titles that Disney+ and Hulu will be removing in May 2023 after a loss of subscribers, begging the question of what will happen to the myriad of cut content.
Disney Plus' Cut Content Won't Be Available To Watch (Barring New Deals Or Physical Media)
The sad truth is that the cut content from Disney+ will simply be unavailable to watch. Almost all the content that is being removed from Disney+ is exclusive to that service, meaning the site is currently the only place where they can be viewed. Once they are removed from Disney+, they will not be available to watch at all.
That being said, there are some possibilities that the projects being removed could be available in the near future. One possibility, albeit very unlikely in the modern age of streaming, is the release of the projects on physical media. The aforementioned Willow is a potential candidate for a DVD/Blu-Ray/4K physical release given the size and scope of the show itself.
Another potential outcome is new deals being struck with other services so that Disney+'s cut content can live on in a new home. This was the case in January 2023 when many TV shows were removed from HBO Max. Shows such as Westworld were moved to Roku and the Tubi streaming service which meant it - and other cut HBO Max shows - could still be viewed by fans of the series. This could happen with Disney+'s content, with other streaming services potentially reaching out to have the cut content housed by them instead.
Disney Plus Cutting Content Is A Major Concern About Streaming
Regardless of the potential savior of these Disney+ shows by other streaming services or physical media, the situation raises the primary concern about the streaming model. With the 2010s ushering in streaming services as the future of TV, physical media has become significantly more uncommon. Studios now opt to include productions on their respective streaming services, meaning oftentimes it is only a subscription to each one that allows viewership of original properties.
The main concern though, is that studios can simply decide to remove these projects from services whenever they please. Unless other situations like the ones mentioned above come into place, these removals render it so that the projects cut from services essentially cease to exist. The increasing lack of physical media makes this problem all the more concerning, with most of the content removed from Disney+ in May 2023 likely not seeing the light of day again unless the studio decides to reintroduce them to the streaming service at some point in the future.
Source: Jon Kasdan